Hello! Finally, Twoie talks about the incident with White Diamond, and his discomfort with fusing. This chapter also features two special guests! I want to thank RoxasTsuna_TMNT, Pausa07, and The_Poptart_Cat for requesting "Twoie's Issues with Fusion" and everyone who was looking forward to Twoie revealing the event with White Diamond.

I want to move away from some of the more stressful stuff now, and have the brothers enjoy themselves again. I've had a couple of requests for a chapter where Twoie and Steven hang out with Lion and a chapter where they hang out with the Cool Kids. These are going to be the next upcoming chapters, so look forward to fluff and fun!

Thank you guys for reading, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

"The Final battle?" Garnet felt sick at the thought. Twoie had already informed them that there would be a fight with White Diamond on Homeworld that ends in a discussion where White realizes she is wrong. Twoie had not expanded further except that she was hard to talk to and that he still didn't like her very much. All her life, Garnet had been taught to fear the might of the Diamonds. That fear had been redefined when she fused with Ruby; fear of losing Ruby forever had overridden Sapphire's respect for her diamond. It changed again when the Diamond's had launched their final attack against earth. But Twoie's memory? Seeing White looming over her nephews, that sadistic smile with those cold, judgmental eyes…Garnet held back a shudder. There was no competition. Seeing White Diamond predatorily leaning over Twoie scared her the most. And that was only part of the story.

"Yeah…" Twoie shyly met her gaze. He sat on the beach, gently petting Lion, who was snoozing beside him. "I- uh… I just need a second. I've never actually told my gems this story." Steven and Connie shared a look of concern. They often forgot that the Twoie they first met was very secretive. Their brother had grown so much since then. After another moment, Twoie decided he needed to get it over with. "I've told you all that we went to confront White Diamond. Yellow and Blue were still not convinced about the whole 'I'm not Pink' thing and were kinda just humoring us every time we brought it up. There was a ball thrown in celebration of 'Pink's return,' my Connie and I fused by accident, and we were all separated after." Twoie shuddered lightly. "I talked to them about what Pink went through, and Blue eventually realized her faults. It ended in a fight with Yellow, and Blue ended up convincing Yellow that the Diamonds were wrong. They were taken by White, and we had to fight the Diamond's ship as Obsidian. Eventually, we were able to confront White, and she realized they were in the wrong." The young man closed his eyes, looking away slightly in shame. "What I never told you is that White used her possession powers all of you, and I was forced to face her myself."

Garnet barely registered Twoie's flinch as she jumped to her feet. "She didwhat?" The permafusion paced on the beach, angrily brushing her hands through her hair. "I can't believe it! No, wait, I can believe it!" Steven and Twoie exchanged a look. At Twoie's nod, they both rose to their feet. Twoie shook Lion awake, and the brothers led him and Connie back several feet. She gave them a questioning look but quickly turned to Garnet as her voice grew louder. "She used it on us! Twoie had to face her alone! That monster!" Garnet turned on her heel and stomped in the opposite direction. "When I see her, I'm gonna punch her so hard it'll wipe that smile off her face. She'll feel it even after being poofed!" She glowed brightly, and, suddenly, there were two small gems on the beach.

Ruby paced madly while Sapphire was angrily gripping her dress, which was quickly frosting over with ice. The small blue gem paused when she noticed their situation, forcing herself to calm down. "I'm sorry, Twoie. Forgive us for our outburst." Sapphire watched Ruby continue to rant angrily about all the things she wanted to do to White Diamond. "The thought of you facing her alone while we were all turned against you has left us both enraged. We are mad at White Diamond for putting you in that position." Connie gaped at the little gems, having never seen them before. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a strong smell of burning. The young girl looked over at Ruby in surprise. Sapphire followed her gaze and sighed in exasperation at the steadily growing sheet of glass covering the sand. "Honey, you're melting the sand again."

Ruby perked up at the pet name, then looked down at the newly formed glass. "Oops, sorry, Sapphy." She grabbed the shard and carried it off to the side of the cliff, so it would be out of the way. Sapphire couldn't help giggling at her partner and was pleased to see a small smile on Twoie's face. Ruby was always the best at making people laugh. Sapphire cleared her throat and motioned for everyone to sit down again. "Now, Connie. I don't suppose we've ever introduced ourselves to you. My name is Sapphire." The elegant gem reached out her hand in greeting.

Connie smiled and returned the handshake. "Nice to meet you, Sapphire! I'm happy to finally meet you!"

Ruby sauntered up to them and proudly pointed at herself. "And I'm Ruby! Nice to meet ya!" She plopped down next to Sapphire before turning to wave at Steven and Twoie. "I'm good now. Can't guarantee I won't get mad on your behalf again, though. I love you two, and the thought of something happening gets me riled up."

Twoie smiled at her statement. That made him feel a little better about opening up, though he knew they had yet to hear the worst of it. "Thanks, Ruby. I love you guys too." He took a deep breath and braced himself for the outburst he knew was coming. "While Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst were possessed by White Diamond, she made Pearl grab Connie so she would be out of the way. Then she…" Say it. Twoie closed his eyes. Just say it, and it'll be done with. "White Diamond pulled my gem out."

Silence blanketed their group. Twoie worked up the courage to open his eyes and saw the horror on everyone's faces. Even Lion had perked up from his nap to stare at him with wide eyes. Steven was clutching his shirt tightly, and Connie was covering her mouth in shock. Sapphire and Ruby had a mixed look of guilt and horror in their eyes. Sapphire stood and grabbed Twoie's hands. When did they start shaking? Twoie was grateful for the comfort of the cool hands, grounding him on the beach with his family.

Sapphire had always wondered what would happen if Steven's gem had been removed. However, Steven's safety had never been worth Rose's potential return. She couldn't imagine how scared Twoie must've been in that situation. The blue gem spoke softly, "I know there is more to this story. If you need a break or can't tell us anymore today, then that's fine. I don't want to push you if you're not comfortable."

"Thank you, but if I don't tell you now, I don't know if I'll ever be able to." The young man knew he was only talking about it because it had accidentally been exposed. He hated remembering it. Remembering the pain, the fear, the confusion. Twoie had been consumed with desperation to reunite with his other half and could barely think of anything else at the time. "We've always known that Steven and I are half-gem and half-human, but that's not completely accurate." He saw their eyes widen in surprise. "We're actually a permanent fusion."

Steven felt like his mind was going to explode. He was apermanent fusion?"So our gem is actually agem? We have two forms?"

Twoie nodded. "When Rose wiped herself from her gem, the gem became another version of ourselves." Steven had always wondered if his mom was somewhere in his gem, watching over him. He was a little sad to learn that she was gone entirely. That wasn't the worst thing to know, though. Steven had always known his mom was gone, so what made Twoie's unfusion such a horrible experience? "We both have a gem form and a human form, but when they are unfused, they are unstable." Sapphire and Ruby flinched, rearing back in terror at the implication. Steven tilted his head in confusion. Unstable?

The gears in Connie's head were turning at everyone's reactions. "If they're unstable when unfused, does that mean you were both falling apart?"

Fear clutched at Stevens's heart as Twoie smiled sadly. "Yes, and no. Our two halves rely on each other. My gem form struggled to express his emotions and could not restrain himself. The half that was falling apart, though, was my human form." His family gasped in shock. "Our human halves can't survive without our gem halves. When White Diamond removed my gem, my human half was dying." Steven launched himself at his brother, hugging him tightly. He decided right then and there that he hated White Diamond. He hated her for putting Twoie through so much pain. Connie, Lion, Ruby, and Sapphire joined the group hug, and Twoie couldn't help tightly hugging them back. He honestly felt so relieved to finally talk about it. The young man knew he had never mentioned it for fear of making his family fall apart or having his fears waved off, but things were different here. His family wouldn't do that to him here. "Thanks, guys. I'm okay now. I managed to refuse with my gem half, and White realized she was wrong." Twoie felt a couple of tears escape his eyes and wiped them away. He laughed when his family looked at him in concern. "I'm fine. I'm just so relieved right now. This has been bothering me for a long time."

The young man sighed. They knew now. They knew about what had happened with White Diamond and that he was a permanent fusion. He looked over at Steven and knew he had to tell them about his aversion to fusion. Twoie wanted to be a good role model for his brother. After all his talks with Steven and Connie about being open and relying on your family for help… Well, he'd be a hypocrite to stay quiet about it. "There's one more thing I want you guys to know about." His family looked at him in confusion. They broke off the hug, so he could see he had their attention. Twoie rubbed the back of his neck in nervousness. He was a little more worried about how Ruby and Sapphire would react. "I figured since we're already on the subject of fusion, and the training that we skipped today was supposed to be fusion training, I should probably tell you guys that I'm not comfortable with… fusing right now."

Steven flashed him a worried look. "You don't like fusing? Is it because of White Diamond?" Fusion was supposed to be between two people who cared about each other. Steven had no doubt in his mind that Twoie cared about him and his family, so why would Twoie not like fusing?

"This is more of a recent thing." Twoie felt bad. He felt like bringing it up would make his family sound mean, but he needed to talk about it. "You guys know I was struggling with PTSD after the war was over, and I kept bottling up my emotions. So, my gems weren't aware that I often felt useless. I wanted to be needed, and several times we fused to get things done." The young man felt his anxiety rise, so he began petting Lion again. The pink cat purred, and Twoie was grateful for his friend. "Fusion became more of a tool, instead of a bond, and I was so desperate to be needed that I went along with it every time. One time, I fused with Amethyst to fix a mistake that I caused. Another time, I kept fusing between Garnet and Pearl because one fusion was needed for a class and another for babysitting Onion. I think I fused over four times that day, and I was so exhausted at the end of it. I haven't fused since then, and the thought of fusing with someone makes me anxious."

Steven looked at his brother sadly. It always hurt to hear how sad Twoie was in his timeline. Before Twoie had arrived, the gems had been oblivious to his feelings. Steven knew they cared about him, but he'd accepted that his feelings would be brushed off. If it hadn't been for Twoie, Steven knew he would've ended up the same way.

Sapphire looked away in shame. Fusion was a form of trust and love. She figured her fusion counterpart had never intended for her actions to come across the way it did. However, that was something the other Garnet should've discussed with Twoie. She should've made time to spend with Twoie outside of using the fusion for classes or communicated that she wasn't just using Twoie. She felt cold at the thought that she might've done the same to Steven if Twoie had never shown up in their time.

Ruby glared at the ground as she thought of her fusion counterpart in Twoie's time. Twoie had never talked about either issue with his other family, and the little red gem understood why. Their counterparts were the reason Twoie had so many problems. She angrily reminded herself that she was responsible for some of Steven's problems as well. It didn't matter that they had been resolved; she still felt angry for having made them in the first place. Ruby loved her family with every mineral in her gem, and she would do whatever she could to keep them safe and happy. The red gem looked over at her nephew and noted how drained he looked. "Thank you for telling us. Do you want to tell Pearl and Amethyst about everything, or would you rather we tell them for you?"

Twoie smiled at her, relieved to not have to talk about it all again so soon. "Could you two tell them? That would be great. I can always talk more about it later, but for now, I'm pretty tired." He turned to his younger brother. "About earlier, I'm sorry for rushing into things and getting hurt. I'll be more careful from now on, so please don't blame yourself for what happened. Okay, Sunshine?"

Steven smiled and hugged his brother again. It would take some reminding, but he felt lighter already. His brother was right. It wasn't his fault, and he should ask for help when he needs it. "Okay, Starbright. I promise. Can we go inside, now? It's getting cold." Everyone agreed, and they all headed for the beach house together. Steven knew they still had enemies to face. The war wasn't over, and the timeline had changed with Twoie's arrival. No one knew for sure what the future would bring, and there was always the chance that something could happen to his family. Twoie proved it, considering how often he got hurt. For now, the kid didn't want to worry about the danger they were always facing. Steven just wanted to spend as much time with his family as he could.